Basic Dog Obedience Training Techniques

Responsible ownership of bringing up a puppy to the identity of a dog that is capable of taking care of himself, fearlessly and gallantly to become a part and parcel of your own existence is indeed a little more than the roughest tough! The chapter enfolds basic definitions of how to teach your puppy to be obedient as well as the intelligent and emotional mature.

Apart from historical, traditional and modern techniques of training your dog to communicate and obey you, the subsequent data also encompasses the potty, crate, feeding and other training mechanisms to aid in teaching your dog obedience. Dog training is indeed a difficult task, but if you love your little guy, he will stun you par this world!

Why teach obedience to your dog or puppy?

A puppy is the best way man can heal his emotional wounds, achieve mental satisfaction and bliss, second only to meditation and the consciousness altering drugs perhaps. One must understand that teaching obedience to your puppy or dog will establish a better communication between you both. Nevertheless, to get past the woof-woof and the endless moans, one must be dedicated, patient and in love with the dog.

Harsh methods of obedience and discipline is possible but the focus should always be aimed at the fact that, rules are not for imposing a harsh, hard or fast reality but it is to aid in the betterment of one’s lifestyle or activity.

In the same way, teaching your puppy to walk beside you with confidence and authority is not simple training but effective relationship with the help of healthy communication that requires love rather than a stick! To your little guy, who is looking onto you with hunger, adoration and love so mighty that you need to start off the best life for him, just like your little baby.

Simply put, obedience training teaches your dog to respond to your gestures, commands and other forms of linguistic or expressive output for interaction. Obedience is not a virtue that is short-lived but immortal, which you give your dog in order to reach out to you in the best ways.

One of the most effective ways of house training, crate training and teaching your puppy and dog the first lessons of bowel control and the right place to potty is dependent on his obedience to your previous commands. With the aforementioned training mechanisms, a dog starts to communicate with the master, which enhances its freedom as well as response and comprehension skills.

How to train your dog: intelligence and communication

Training your dog with emotional and physical intelligence of being aware of the surroundings as well as proper communication is effective only through proper ways of communication. For pups, the job is easy, as your voice and your commands will be the first sound that he hears and wakes up to. This tends to create an impact of superior safety, comfort and faith in you, from the puppy. However, adult dogs need to be trained strenuously and consistently to establish a bond, let alone the response to his own name!

Following provides some of the best techniques to training your dog into obedience and its virtues, gradually in a step-by-step program.

Choose your dog according to your lifestyle: The first and the foremost thing to do when choosing a dog is to research upon its breed, needs, hair-growth and grooming as well as feeding techniques in order to be prepared and practically accommodated to your dog’s growing demands. Finding the right breed of dog that suits your style of living might seem difficult in the start, although it is a very convenient start of co-existence with your dog.
Additionally, before finalising on welcoming any dog into house, you must understand that every dog has a different set of necessities and requirements. Look up maintenance works that you require for each kind of dog, find the one that requires high or low maintenance depending upon your leisure house or time available to spend at home. To make the process a bit easier, check out our article on the easiest dog breeds to train so you can find the right companion for your lifestyle.

Call him by his name: In order to start training your dog, one must start with calling your dog by his own name. Repeating the name-calling will establish an awareness in your dog about his name as his own. One must take care to command the dog only with his own name. In 3-4 days, your dog will start responding to the name. When the name is registered, you can train your dog to respond effectively to the commands you give as the dog is already listening whenever you command anything to your dog.

Never be harsh or employment chains and cages to teach or train your dog: Another important thing to take care of since the very start is to control your temper and tone on your dog. If you resort to ways of scolding and harsh punishments on your dog, the resultant will be obedience out of fear, which remains short-lived. The harsher mechanisms you choose to instruct him, more problems you will notice in his behavior and emotional stability.
If obedience training is not conducted through healthy and proper ways of training with love and care, the dog grows up into an aggressive and problematic dog that is violent to everyone, regardless of the commands of the owner.
Additionally, such dogs refuse to continue obeying the commands of the owner when the owner is not in sight. This gives much probability in developing violent behavior in the dog that is untamed and aggressive when unleashed. It is slightly difficult to train adult dogs into obeying your commands; nevertheless, it is highly possible if you are dedicated and regular with your practice techniques.

Be regular at communicating with your dog: obedience training is not a two-day act that you can just plunge into it and forget all about it for the rest of your life. For a pup, if you start to train it obedience since the very start, your communication will establish a strong foundation in a week of perpetual training and practice. For an adult dog, it is difficult to attain perfect obedience in under a week.
So, one must continue to call the dog by his name, carry out regular feeding and potty breaks as well as command it with the same commands to avoid any confusion in the dog. If you are regular at this healthy and stable communication with your dog, even an adult dog can be trained into obedience in under 4 weeks.

Teach your dog basic commands: The next step to training and teaching your dog to obey you is through commands. Some of the basic commands to teach your dog in the very start are, ‘sit’, ‘stay’, ‘come’, ‘heel’ and ‘down’. None of these commands is independently effective, but only alongside explicit commands with even tones, hand gestures and other cues. One can enhance commands with gestures that signal ‘up’ and ‘down’ as well as actions to help the dog understand what the commands mean, through the act of doing it yourself.
This is employed through commands stated along with rewards, acknowledgements and appreciative actions whenever he does things the right way. Another important command to teach and train your dog is the command of ‘listen’, it is trained through steadying him through repeatedly stating ‘listen’. To learn what the basics are, take a look at this article on teaching your dog the basics.

Potty train: The most difficult training part of house-training or crate training your dog starts with the awareness of his potty hours. Since the very start, one must start potty training the puppy or dog properly. Newspaper method of potty training renders damaging results such as the dog pooping or peeing on every item that remains flat on the floor like clothes that look akin to a spread newspaper, which was trained to potty the dog in. If you dog is house-trained well then the first training that he starts to adhere to is through potty training.

Crate train: An effective training technique after house training your puppy is through training him to be realising the cosiness and comfort of the special crate you have for him. Crate training relies on the healthy house-training. Crate training requires discipline of keeping a check on your dog’s feeding and potty timings so that you are always there to help your dog whenever he is confused as to controlling his bowels or afraid of his isolation.
Crate training is dependent on the strength of the obedience you have on your dog through right commanding and discipline so that everything you command your dog is obeyed. Crate training requires regularity in keeping the dog inside the cage at proper intervals without keeping the dog in the crate for more than 4 hours. You can start to learn the process by reading this article on crate training your puppy.

Teach him to lead: Start by making your dog walk on your left. Right confuses your dog. Take your dog on regular walks and start by engaging him into leading you. When playing with your dog, let him lead to show you new ways of playing as well as walking. An effective of teaching him to lead is through making him walk in an even pace in his route.

Feeding: eat before him: One should take care to always eat before the dog and make him watch you having food.
One must teach the dog to learn to ignore as well as await the master’s meal, so that he prepares himself to eat his own afterwards. After finishing your meal, directly go and prepare food for your dog, immediately. This will make them patient, healthy and discipline about the feeding time. Additionally, maintain a regular feeding calendar of your dog to keep afocused observation on his health and diet.

Acknowledge, appreciate and reward your dog whenever he’s right: This is a very important stage of helping your dog grow disciplined and healthy. One must avoid all loud or hard form of punishment and reaction on the dog and learn to appreciate as well as reward his positive efforts to do things right. Whenever your dog does something right, reward him with a treat. Take care to measure the treat and not help him get obese.

History of obedience training in dogs

Obedience has been an inherent phase of the relationship in between dogs and humans, since ages. Dogs have proved to be guards and best friends of humans and obedience hence has been a regular routine while acquainting oneself with a dog. Working dogs have always been the part and parcel of human existence through helping shepherds, military, hunting, chasing and police.

Beginning of 20th century saw the rise of dog obedience training officially in military and police forces for operant conditioning as well as reinforcements on account of animal welfare, intelligence and training.

AKC is the American Kennel club, which records the house trained dogs to provide certification of Canine Good Citizen. Even insurance companies have exclusive policies to waive off the restriction of dogs with CGC certificate.

Tools for obedience training in dogs

Information: the first thing one should equip the self is information. Research and surf enough to assure that you know everything about the breed and training of your dog. Through this comes the information about the health and safety of your dog regarding its food and sleep.

Leash and collar: one must take care to buy the right size, shape and material of collar for the dog. Observe if you need the collar or chain on your dog. If your dog has learnt to walk and lead without the leash or collar, it is time that you abandon the same during your private walks. However, always take care to be thoroughly equipped and safe while on the road or amongst the public, when with your dog. You never know what can suddenly aggravate your little guy. Make sure none of your chains or leashes make the little guy to choke or be suffocated!

Bowl: make sure you buy a good bowl that is produced from healthy materials to provide the right space for liquids and solids in your dogs diet. Also, make sure to fix a location for your bowl from the first day of feeding him.

Crate: along with the bowl, buy a good crate that is comfortable to your dog. Changing crates for growing up pups and dogs can be a touch deal. Hence, buy big crates to teach your puppy into associating it his safest and cosiest place in the house!

Vest and clothes: many options of safe and secure vests and clothes to train an adult dog or to aid in cleaning up the accidents that happen during dog training are available today. Research enough to find the best equipments to aid in healthy and comfortable dog training period.

Toys and entertainment: apart for the health and hygiene, there are zillions of entertainment stuff for aiding dog obedience training such as toys like safe balls, discs, bones and musical dolls. Just like a little baby, your dog needs sufficient care and attention all the while. Be posted up on new and advanced dog-obedience-training-tools like potty training dolls and such.

Food, potty and sleep

Feeding your pup in disciplined and regular ways can be quite tough, but certain ways to teach your dog into health feeding and diet is through the following

Understanding the appetite of your dog: one must know the need, hunger and thirst of the dog in order to feed him appropriate. Record how much your dog eats.

Maintaining a feeding calendar: now, start recording your observations to note the growth, change and increase in the quantity or change in diet of your dog; this also helps in knowing the physical health of your dog properly;

Opting for the right and ever-transient diet: never feed your dog the same thing for month; instead, fill his bowl with varied treats on different days of the week.

Checking with physician: with all these observations and experiences, visit your veterinarian with your dog to assert and recognize the health and growth of your dog;

Potty training in pups

Keep a potty calendar and clock: just like the feeding calendar and clock that you regularly maintain and infer from, keep a religious potty calendar so that you don’t trouble your dog with controlling his bowels and being confused of where to safely pee.

Be regular on potty breaks: Always make sure that you take your dog every four hours; after each meal as well as nighttime breaks.

Do not confuse your dog about potty places: another important thing is the improper potty training. If you teach your dog to potty on a newspaper, he will end up pooping and peeing on any item that resembles the newspaper on the floor.

Many issues and problems arise during the obedience training of a dog.

One must learn to love and care for the dog just like one’s own sweet baby.

Only through apt love and dedication can an adult dog be trained to behave. Apart from the regular commands and communication that is general to teach all the dog-training techniques, you can also teach your dog exclusive commands and habits to follow. All that you need to train your dog is through love, dedication and company that you do without any hassle or stress.

John Walton lives in Somerville, MA, with his two dogs, two sons, and very understanding mate. He is a Certified Pet Dog Trainer, a member of the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants, a mentor trainer for the Animal Behavior College, an AKC Certified CGC Evaluator, and the Training Director for the New England Dog Training Club.

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